Ok i'm not almost dead, but I do feel like it as I have heart failure that has my heart pumping at 53% ef.

So I need a bike that is not a chore to ride and will give me the most enjoyment with the least amount of sweat.

I need a bike to jump gutters, ride paths, roads, and one tough 100 m stretch of washed out muddy hell hole all on the way to town. It has to be kind to me, my heart, my bung knee and damaged body. I would like to at some stage to attack some local trails, off road tracks as i may as well have fun while dying.

I am really torn between a MTB, or hybrid, but would like disc brakes for the mud i encounter, and prob in a 29er wheel size. I like twist shift gears, but any would do, and don't want disc brakes that shudder but the type that work as disc's should. Budget would like to keep under $600 but could prob stretch it out to under 1k, but the bike would have to make me wet my pants with excitement.

Your upper price range just barely gets you into the acceptably reliable range for a mountain bike, with Shimano Deore-level hardware if you're lucky and pick up a bargain on runout.

A mountain bike is more versatile, but more work to ride on the road ... which is why I persist with one for commuting-come-training. And jumping down (and up) gutters, riding down stairs, and up tight zig-zag wheelchair ramps (at sparrows' fart time - never seen a wheelchair on it yet) is a huge amount of fun that adds some entertainment to the commute and serves as a bit of skills practice.

But unless riding off-road is something you're targeting (and it is one of my favourite things to do), I'd recommend a flatbar roadie or hybrid given the compromises you face with a below-normal-capacity cardio system and the strictures of your budget.

As for "wetting your pants", this does it for me (my "weekend" bike):

If you can establish what size frame you need, buying a good secondhand unit on eBay will get you a lot more bang for your limited bucks.

If you're jumping gutters, get a mountain bike with front forks minimum.

Otherwise I am a fan of cool hybrids with hub gear/belt drive combination - low maintenance and pretty reliable. Typical brands include bikes include Scott sub 10, giant seek 0, Avanti inc 2 or 3 (selling one actually ) and focus TR1 or 2. These are all over your budget but will fit if you are open to second hand.

Second hand MTB - maybe 4 years old and you will get Discs but forget the 29ers (they are nice, but you want to keep it at $600). My thoughts are that you get a comfortable full suspension ride.

Otherwise for a lower price category, the 29ers would generally be hardtails and I would suggest the comfort of a full suspension bike makes sense. You probably wouldn't need discs, though for an older second hand bike would get an average hydraulic disc brake.

Yeah, getting a MTB without front forks could be problematic unless you are good at unicycling.

However if you're bunny-hopping gutters, then a rigid fork gives you more tyre bounce, for more lift. Slightly less weight too. I'd also argue with bigger tyres and lower pressure, you don't need suspension to MTB unless you want to go particularly fast.

trailgumby wrote:Your upper price range just barely gets you into the fancy range for a mountain bike, with Shimano Deore-level hardware if you're lucky and pick up a bargain on runout.

FTFY, my first MTB was $500 new with Acera, still runs fine and I was able to win a 25km race on it. Sure Deore is great but the cheaper stuff like Acera and Alivio (and even Altus, we are talking about riding mainly on paths here) works fine too. That Giant is a fantastic buy though.

When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments- Elizabeth West.

rjk wrote:imagine trying to tyres and tubes fot 27.5, giant must be mad

There's a big enough selection available now that work, from Schwalbe, Maxxis and Pacenti (just the ones I know about) - I'm sure there are others.

It's interesting to observe that new product development in low rolling-resistance tyres for 26ers has more or less stopped. On the rare occasions we see a new 26er, it's added as a consolation - the main marketing effort is on the bigger wheel sizes,